Aims and Objectives

Course Aims

This course aims to introduce students to the development of Western ideas about international affairs. It explores such themes as the justice or injustice of war, the nature of sovereignty, international law and the place of power in international life, and ethical obligations across borders, through a broad historical survey of some of the classic texts of Western political theory. The course thus aims to provide students with a basic grasp of the ideas that have shaped and continue to shape current thought and practice in international relations, while increasing their ability to interpret and critically engage with these ideas in context.

Course Objectives

Course objectives
Students passing the course should:

• Be familiar with some of the main ideas about international affairs in the Western canon of political theory
• Be able to trace the basic development of these ideas in the Western tradition and to describe their context
• Be able to draw on classic texts and on concrete historical examples to make cogent arguments about such topics as:
  • The nature of political community
  • The justice of war
  • The nature of sovereignty and political authority
  • The possibility and desirability of democracy in various cultural contexts, as well as the ethics of intervention for purposes of democracy promotion
  • The possibility and desirability of “perpetual peace”
• Be able to make useful comparisons between contrasting views by various thinkers on any of these topics